The invention relates to an arrangement for binding an object, in particular a cable harness, having a tool, a band and a lock, the band being guided, in the form of a loop, through the lock, which has a band passage and detents arranged therein and engaging in the band, the tool having a clamp and a band guide, which opens out into a lock mount on an end side of the tool, and also having a movable covering tongue, which temporarily prevents at least one of the detents from engaging in the band.
An arrangement of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,911. This document describes, in particular, a tool for binding a band retained by a lock. The tool has a tool housing, at the front end of which a clamp is arranged. Provided in the tool housing is a band guide, along which the band is advanced from a magazine, through the housing, toward and through the clamp, and a lock channel, through which the locks are guided to a lock mount. The lock mount is arranged at the clamp-side mouth of the band guide. During operation, a lock is brought into the lock mount via the lock channel, and the band is then advanced from the band guide, through the lock in the lock mount, into the clamp and guided, as a loop, around the object which is to be bound. The free band end is then guided, through the lock, into the tool again in order then to tension the band. The band loop is kept taut by the lock and can be removed from the tool once the band has been severed. In order for it to be possible to prevent release of the band loop from the lock, the latter has detents for securing the band. In order that the band nevertheless can run through the lock without obstruction during advancement, a covering tongue is provided, it being possible for said tongue to be introduced into the region between the band and detents in order to prevent the detents of the lock from engaging in a toothing formation of the band, and thus to prevent the band advancement from being obstructed. The covering tongue is guided in a longitudinally displaceable manner by means of a carriage and, at its tip, has a wedge in order thus to raise off one of the detents from the band and so to prevent it from engaging in the toothing formation of the latter. The known arrangement, however, is disadvantageous in terms of reliability and versatility. The tool is sensitive to differences in the position of the lock and/or of the detent relative to the covering tongue. This is because, if the lock is not located in its ideal position, then it may be the case that, when it is introduced into the lock, the covering tongue, rather than gripping beneath the detent by way of its wedge tip and thus raising said detent, it runs against the front of the detent and, in the process, either blocks or damages or destroys the detent. This results in the tool coming to an undesired standstill. The same problem also arises when different locks with differently arranged detents are to be used for different band thicknesses. In this case, the tool has to be laboriously adapted every time to the lock which is used in each case, with its arrangement of the detent, in order to avoid disruption.
The object of the invention is to increase the reliability and variability of such an arrangement.
In the case of an arrangement for binding an object, in particular a cable harness, having a tool, a band and a lock, the band being guided, in the form of a loop, through the lock, which has a band passage and detents arranged therein and engaging in the band, the tool having a clamp and a band guide, which opens out into a lock mount an end side of the tool, and also having a movable covering tongue, which temporarily prevents at least one of the detents from engaging in the band, the invention provides that the covering tongue is mounted in a pivotable manner.
The pivotable mounting according to the invention gives the covering tongue an additional degree of freedom, which allows adaptation to different positions of the detents in the case of different locks. When it is introduced into the lock, the covering tongue may be deflected to the extent where, in the case of all expected locks together with their detents, reliable gripping beneath the detent can take place. This ensures reliable gripping of the detents even in the case of the detents unavoidably having different positions, as a result of tolerances, within the same type of lock. The pivotable mounting of the covering tongue makes it possible for there to be no need for this covering tongue, when it is introduced into the lock, to have any direct contact with the detent; rather, it may be introduced at a safe distance from the detents.
The covering tongue can preferably be pivoted about a pin which is located perpendicularly to a band-guiding direction. This has the advantage that the pivot pin of the covering tongue is approximately parallel to the axis or the axes about which the detent or detents of the lock move; the axis of the detent, to be more precise that of the center of rotation about which the detent moves, is likewise usually located perpendicularly to the band-advancement direction. The paths on which the covering tongue, on the one hand, and the detent, on the other hand, move are then located in one plane. This makes it possible for the detent to be raised by the covering tongue in a harmonious manner.
The pivot pin of the covering tongue is preferably arranged such that a movement path of the covering tongue intersects a movement path of the detent at an acute angle.
The surface of the covering tongue which is intended for abutment against the detent of the lock is expediently of grooved design. This has the advantage that, on the one hand, the covering tongue can easily be pushed into the region beneath the detent and, on the other hand, it is easily possible to accommodate relative movements between the detent and covering tongue, in particular in the direction of one another, which are produced when the detent is raised.
The pivoting of the covering tongue may be effected actively or passively. If it is effected actively, a dedicated drive is expediently provided for the covering tongue. If it is effected passively, the covering tongue is expediently arranged such that, in the pivoted-out state, it projects into the region provided on the lock for band-passage purposes. If the band is advanced out of the tool body, through the lock, in the direction of the clamp, it comes into contact with the covering tongue and forces the latter out of the band-guiding region, as a result of which the covering tongue is made to pivot.
The covering tongue is preferably arranged in a longitudinally displaceable manner between a position in which it is advanced into the lock mount and a position in which it is retracted therefrom. By combining the pivoting movement according to the invention with the longitudinal movement, it is possible to improve and simplify the actuation of the covering tongue. It is thus possible, in particular, for the covering tongue to be drawn out by straightforward longitudinal displacement. Longitudinal displacement here, rather than being understood just as a linear movement, may be any desired, e.g. circular, movement with a sufficient longitudinal component. It is particularly advantageous for the covering tongue to be arranged, for this purpose, on an eccentric. This makes possible, in an extremely straightforward manner, both a pivoting movement and a longitudinal movement.
An actuating device is expediently provided for the covering tongue and is controlled such that the covering tongue is advanced when the clamp is closed and retracted when the clamp is open. It is thus possible, in an outlay-reducing manner, for the covering tongue to be linked to the actuation of the clamp, if appropriate by means of the eccentric.